George I Antique Silver Taperstick, London 1717.

Object Description

An elegant little antique silver taperstick of plain early design with knopped stem and raised hexagonal foot. Cast silver. Hand engraved to the foot is a man crest.

Weight 105g, 3.3 troy oz.
Height 10.5cm, 4,1 ins. Diameter of base 6.9/7.6cm.
London 1717.
Maker Benjamin Traherne.
Britannia Standard silver, high grade 95.8 purity.

Marks. Stamped with a full set of English silver hallmarks underneath the base.

Maker: Benjamin Traherne

Benjamin Traherne, London silversmith, apprenticed to Philip Traherne (either his elder brother or uncle) 15th September 1669, free by service 22 September 1676. Around that time Philip Traherne was a shopkeeping goldsmith in the Strand with a wide range of plate, jewellery and smallwares; he’d presumably been trained as a silversmith and so was able to teach Benjamin the skills of that side of the trade.

Benjamin entered his mark on the new plate in 1682 and in 1697 entered a Britannia mark as largeworker, address St Martin Grand. He bound 7 apprentices between 1678 and 1696 with two becoming free.

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Object Literature

Silver tapersticks, averaging about 5 inches high, are miniature table candlesticks used to hold a wax taper. Tapersticks would typically be found on a desk as they were not used for lighting; the melted sticks of wax were used for sealing letters, to give a flame for tobacco pipes or to light large candles. They are rarer than candlesticks and very few existed prior to the Queen Anne period. They usually appear in singles and pairs of tapersticks command a premium price.

Britannia Standard silver. In 1696, so extensive had become the melting and clipping of coinage that the silversmiths were forbidden to use the sterling standard for their wares, but had to use a new higher standard, 95.8 per cent. New hallmarks were ordered, “the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia” and the lion’s head erased (torn off at the neck) replacing the lion passant and the leopard’s head crowned.

Object Condition

In very good condition

Object Details